Good weather, good people, and wildlife make a good combination—especially if it includes bears. Females are showing up. We’re getting calls to ‘come see.’ Some of the calls were about Lily, but she never waited long enough.
One of the highlights was good Guy in his mid-twenties. He calmly knows what is going on. Several participants said he alone was worth the whole trip. But then there was Andrea with her cubs. Guy was nice to let us get pictures of him in the sun with one of them giving our best view ever of his wide, dark cementum-enamel margin at the base of his canine tooth—an indicator of his old age. Now in his mid-twenties, he has spent his calm life among hunters and residents without being shot or causing any problem. It is always good to see him.
Three-year old Andrea (daughter of Jewel) gave us our best view of her cubs so far, letting us get a picture from a distance. She and her cubs are shy. The picture shows the female cub named Snowball standing up letting us see her light face with lightness that extends up onto her forehead. Her brother Cupcake showed his brown fur, and her other brother Twinkie showed his black fur. Only Snowball has a chest blaze.
Out the window, a great blue heron lighted on the tippy top of a balsam fir tree, showing its wings when it landed and then showing its face when it turned its head to catch the sun—views we hardly see out the window.
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| Great Blue Heron on balsam fir | |
The pontoon ride yesterday was placid. As we floated closer to a sleeping mallard, it opened an eye but didn’t move. Another mallard with a late brood of two ducklings swam unusually close to get their picture taken, too.
 Mallard family |
 Mallard resting |
Loon - photo by Felicia Ortner
Felicia Ortner won the loon photo contest with this sharp, action pose with its red eye catching the sun.
Fun times.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center